Gaston rep: Ice cream should be an N.C. symbol

Wednesday

Feb 6, 2019 at 4:08 PMFeb 6, 2019 at 5:17 PM

A Gastonia fourth-grade class’s hands-on civics lesson has made it to Raleigh — and it could result in North Carolina getting a new state symbol.

Rep. John Torbett, R-Gaston, introduced a bill in the General Assembly this week that would declare ice cream the official frozen treat of North Carolina. It’s a process that started in October when Gaston Day School fourth-graders made a passionate appeal to Gaston County commissioners declaring their love of Tony’s Ice Cream.

The local ice cream parlor has been serving frozen goodness for more than a century out of its East Franklin Boulevard store, and Josie Conner’s fourth-graders wanted Gaston County’s leaders to petition Raleigh to have it declared a state symbol.

“We think Tony’s Ice Cream should be our newest state symbol as the North Carolina frozen treat because it symbolizes family, has a long history in Gaston County and throughout the state, cools you down on hot days, and the flavors are just too good to resist,” fourth-grader Caroline Shedd said during the presentation.

Luckily for the students, Torbett happened to be in the audience to watch a new commissioner be sworn in to office. He approached Conner afterward and said he’d sponsor legislation.

“I am just thrilled to work with the kids and the teachers to show them how the government works,” Torbett said this week.

Conner said the fourth-graders were elated when they heard the news, starting earlier in the week when Torbett’s legislative assistant and wife, Viddia, reached out to report that the bill had been assigned a number.

“They cheered,” Conner said. “They were very excited… Each little step has made it more real for them.”

Conner’s class started on the effort last fall when she was teaching the students about state symbols. The kids wanted to try to get a new symbol on the books, and Conner thought it would be a great way to teach them about the state political system. The students settled on Tony’s, and Conner helped them prepare a presentation to county commissioners.

Torbett’s bill pitches ice cream in general rather than a specific company’s product — he says that would be “a bridge too far.” Foodstuffs listed as N.C. state symbols that already exist shy from specific brands, instead describing just the product itself — for example, state vegetable sweet potato or state fruit scuppernong grape.

“We tailored it down to ‘ice cream,’ but we all know Tony’s is the ice cream of North Carolina,” Torbett said. “And yes, you can quote me on that.”

The bill says ice cream is "important to the North Carolina dairy industry and is produced all across the state."

Torbett will read the bill on the House floor Thursday, and Conner’s fourth-graders plan to tune in.

“Our whole fourth grade is going to watch it together,” Conner said. “We’re going to eat lunch in the classroom so we can watch it on the smart TV.”

Locals have long sung the praises of Tony’s Ice Cream. Vice President Mike Pence, then a candidate, even stopped by for a chocolate milk shake in 2016.

“I just think it’s fantastic,” said Tony Coletta, whose family owns Tony’s. “We’re just very honored that they would even think of us.”

Coletta says he was impressed with the class’s speech to county commissioners in October as well as their curiosity when they visited the shop for a field trip.

“They did such a great job,” Coletta said. “They asked fantastic questions when they came and asked us about making ice cream. Those kids are very sharp.”

As for what comes next: Torbett will read the bill, and then it will be assigned to a committee — though the legislator noted there’s no “ice cream committee” — and go through several votes before winding on the desk of Gov. Roy Cooper.

Conner says she’s going to reach out to see if the class can go to Raleigh at some point to watch the process unfold.

“Experiences like that,” Conner said, “will be sort of the cherry on the ice cream.”

You can reach Dashiell Coleman at 704-869-1819 or on Twitter @DashiellColeman

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